I have always hated the census requirement that one give a racial or other label to self and family. This year the requirements are weird. One has 4 choices to be black, white, American Indian, or Alaskan native. Then follow about a dozen or so Latino alternatives. Thereafter we have Asia and the Pacific Islands. And finally a fill in blank for the Middle East countries.

The good news is that there is finally a “some other race” final write in category. Whee! At last one can officially indicate that one is a HUMAN. I have been adding this for the last several census forms. My first family members arrived in the early 17th century. G-d only knows what we have mixed in along the way. But my in-laws are just about everything and I deeply have resented being anything else than HUMAN. I know the the census is supposed to break down group numbers, but with the increase in minorities it has been setting off another round of racism as ‘whites’ feel threatened by their declining percentages. The marvelous mix of people that we are is something of which we should be proud and a model for our changing world. Spare us from more racist ‘wars’. And let’s get our economies organized in just ways.

I hope many others will follow my lead and classify themselves as HUMANS rather than mutually antagonistic sub-species! Wars are what such subdivisions motivate. And we have a long way to go to end off racism in this country. Such things linger and word labels make a vast difference in how people view and treat each other.
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“A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope.” (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
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Ed Kent [blind copies]

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